Happy New Year ....or has that stopped now?

You another year starts, and we’ve grown used to writing a fresh set of figures at the end of the date. We’re all debating whether it’s still permissible to start an email with “Happy New Year”. We are pushing at the edges of those resolutions we may or may not have made, and having passed blue Monday where now well and truly settled into 2023. Having worried myself over where I was spending Christmas in the New Year, at 1:30 on January 1 I walked back along the Thames from an exceptionally pleasant drinks party on the 30th floor of an apartment building in Canary Wharf, having watched the fireworks from a magnificent vantage point. It was therefore surprising to bump into one of our well-known senior actors outside a public house and receive an invitation to partake of a little stimulation. I resisted the temptation and headed home to begin what, I hope, will be a successful year. 2022 was a rollercoaster both professionally and emotionally and although it’s not something that I ever thought I’d lost after, I’d love 2023 to bring me a bit of stability. I’ve got to define many things for myself. A single life. A new way of enjoying my own company and, having spent 25 years as part of a couple, discovering how to reach out and make sure that I have a social life. I’ve been very lucky in that work has reared its head very early in the year, and I’ve already spent four days in Serbia filming for a television drama. We were exceptionally well looked after. A greeter as soon as one stepped off the aeroplane. An enormous dressing room and great fellow actors to work with. A crew that cared about doing things to the best of their ability, and on leaving someone to meet my car at the airport and escort me as a VIP through check-in and passport control to the departure lounge. It would be too much to hope that every job in 2023 carries out itself at such a level. I’m planning a few little treats. If I don’t, nobody will. I think rather than put myself in a position of worrying what’s going to happen for my birthday, or the embarrassing position of having to organise it all myself, I’m going to make sure I’m on holiday, work permitting. I don’t think it’s the time of year that I want to head to the sun, so I will head to the Arctic. Several years ago, I glimpsed the Northern lights one night in Iceland in a freezing cold field with no toilet facilities (mental note to self- do not urinate outside when the temperature is -10°). The lights were impressive, but not brilliant. I’m sure they have so much more to offer, so I’m going to head up into the Arctic Circle for a couple of days and to fulfil my other fantasy of being pulled along in a husky sledge. It’s not booked yet. I am falling victim to that hesitancy that I seem to have gained since becoming single about trying to be responsible for myself. Although that doesn’t always happen. The other weekend I was chatting to somebody on a Tuesday and by Friday afternoon I was heading to Paris to have dinner with them. Marco gave me the most brilliant weekend. How good it was to be in a city with someone who knows it. We walked miles… or should that be kilometres? There was a lot of laughter. We ate well. We had a ball. And for the more prurient among you, I stayed in a hotel near his apartment just off the Champs-Élysées, as of course, it was a first date. I think I’ve made a lovely friend for trips to the French capital. It has to be said that Serbia was a less glamorous than Paris, this week will be a mixture of Wembley and Lisbon. Wembley for a conference I’m directing and a quick 24-hour dash to Lisbon to do a recce on a conference hotel for the autumn. Lisbon is a beautiful city. I did a weekend there many years ago and have one of the most wonderful meals I can remember. One of those restaurants where you will turn up at 7:30 PM, and you’re all served the same menu degustation for the evening. Last autumn after my conference directing in Portugal I had a weekend in Cascais which is a seaside resort just outside Lisbon and I made a Sunday afternoon shopping trip into the capital. It’s a vibrant place, and although I suspect all we will see this week is the inside of two hotels, it will be nice to be there. And then hey ho it will be February and 1/12 of the New Year will have gone. The theory why time flies as you grow older is that each year is a small fraction of your life. So, each year for me is now 1/66 of my span on earth. So, here’s a hearty wish to all of you that your 2023 brings all you desire. May it be full of opportunity. May it be full of achievement and may it be full of you.